Letters to editor: March 19

This is in response to the letter stating that America is in a "domestic-violence relationship with guns." Having been a domestic abuse victim myself 37 years ago, I feel this letter is in error.

I did not own a gun at the time I was abused. If I had, and had the knowledge that I do now, it would have evened up the odds for me. Being 120 pounds against a 260-pound man did not leave me any defense.

I also did not own a cast iron skillet. I also did not get help from law enforcement; the local sheriff was a friend of my father-in-law at the time and merely propped his feet upon his desk and said, "Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it."

I too feel saddened at the lives lost at the hands of criminals or the mentally impaired, but taking away the rights of law-abiding gun owners is not the answer and will not prevent it from happening again.

I do not have the answer as to how any of this could have been prevented, but I assure you, taking guns away does not guarantee that criminals will not have them. Criminals have no respect for the law or human life.

I have owned guns since 1978 and never killed a living thing, not even a snake. But I will defend myself and my family, and the ineptness and stupidity of those who would try to keep me from doing so will never succeed.

Joyce Passmore

Burnside

Gun control reasonable

I feel firmly the proposed ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, assault weapons, machine guns and the required registration plan is sound and prudent.

To those this upsets, I, a former National Rifle Association member, uphold the Second Amendment and do not wish to infringe on your right to protect yourself and family, or to go hunt Bambi.

Like other writers, I found recent commentaries published here as rational discourses on weapons. However, there are facts that should be known, discussed in this debate and be noted clearly for all citizens, gun owners and non-owners:

■ The NRA now states all gun sale registration is wrong but had a reverse position in 1999 during congressional hearings.

■ The NRA would have us "arm" our schools. Columbine and Virginia Tech had armed security guards or police at hand.

■ There have been nationally about 20,000 murders annually in America by guns, and all once had "responsible" owner-purchasers. Japan, Taiwan and European industrialized nations have tight gun sale/possession controls. Collectively, their annual murder by gun deaths equal less than one day of America's gun murders.

If people kill people, we are a ruthless, murderous society.

To our state and federal legislators, please note: I also watch and weigh outcomes judiciously. Ultimately, I state the NRA mantra with caution to legislators: "I, too, vote."

Robert D. Hall

Corbin

Plan won't save students

President Barack Obama, Sen. Diane Feinstein and Vice President Joe Biden have all admitted that their gun control plans will not prevent school shootings.

Schools might as well hang out a sign, "Welcome shooters." There is nothing to stop them. Police cannot get there in time. Token school security will not be in the right place at the right time. The killer must be stopped at the door. Once the lunatic gets in, it is too late.

Why are the leaders of our country wasting time with laws that will not stop school shootings? Their objective is a long-term obliteration of an armed citizenry that could stop an erosion of constitutional rights. They are using the blood of schoolchildren to promote this agenda. More school shootings equal more hysteria and support for their goal.

Any parent who does not support local efforts to guard schools in a manner that will be effective is contributing to the future deaths of their children. If enough parents pressure local school systems, this can have results now.

If you care for your children, act now. The government will not. It is your child. It is your decision now.

Ted Woodley

Cynthiana

Be responsible

The general public is making gun control a political issue and blaming the Obama administration for wanting to take away the rights of our citizens to carry firearms.

First of all this should be settled at each state level. That's why we pay our state and county police officials to enforce our security.

We in the United States commit more murders in one year than our military personnel have lost in lives in the past 10 years.

It's easy to blame and say that our rights as citizens are being violated. Let each and every one of us take a good look at ourselves before we blame others and point fingers. We have to be more responsible for our own actions.

Pete Herrera

Van Lear

Facing human realities

Robert Emmett Curran's Kentucky Voices of Feb. 10, "Reclaim freedom from violence," again shows the lunacy of the people on the far left of society.

Apparently, Curran took too many history classes and not enough biology classes to realize life is not lived in a Utopian bubble.

It would be wonderful for there to exist this life of fearless love, but the reality is at every level of life on this planet there is some form of evil that wants to kill or harm you.

Man as an intellectual being has through experience developed a means to defend himself. Now, Curran all of a sudden wants people to stop defending themselves and become prey for whoever wants their life and freedom.

Individual freedom is as basic a freedom as the writers of the Constitution meant it to be.

The Second Amendment gives the individual American his right to defend his person or property from tyranny by any government or person.

Curran brings up the idea of slavery and how it was outlawed because it is wrong and harmful. I fully agree, but the slave trader would not have been able to enslave the people of Africa had they had guns to ward off trouble.

The Second Amendment is about protection of life free of outside interference, and until the people on the proper side of this issue stand up and shout from the mountaintops, people like Curran will try to take the freedom away and turn us into slaves.

Thomas Eigel

Lexington

There when you need it

In reference to one letter's statement of the United States never having a "well regulated militia" formed, the writer is absolutely right.

It's never happened.

But the Second Amendment is there if needed. The best offense is a good defense. Otherwise, dictatorship and mayhem are just around the corner.

Most people can understand that very wise men put it there for a good reason: protection.

Dennis Childs

Lexington

Working like a charm

Well, it looks like the University of Kentucky is getting good with the "one and dones."

It's not a lot of fun as a fan, however the faithful will likely keep the bucks rolling in for support.

The university may even need double donation for next year?

Russ Reide

Lexington

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